The University of Memphis Cross Country team finished third in men’s and sixth in women’s in their first meet of the season, the City Auto Memphis Twilight XC Classic, Saturday night at Mike Rose Soccer Complex.
This was a late-night that included both high school and collegiate races. The college races didn’t get underway until 9:20.
The men’s race was a 4-mile run, and Memphis finished third overall out of 12 teams, behind Middle Tennessee State and Ole Miss. Memphis had two runners finish inside the top ten with Leonardo Mazzoni at ninth with a 19:28.95 and Kenny Guy at tenth with a 19:29.85.
Kenny Guy, Robert Randall and Benjamin Huey all had personal bests for the 4-mile. Randall ran a 20:00.81 and Huey ran a 21:37.66.
The team has a new coach this year, Charles Jones. He was previously a cross-country and track and field athlete at Texas Tech, where he won the Big 12 championship in the 800m.
“It was a great start to a new chapter of Memphis cross country,” Jones said after his first meet as a coach.
The women’s race was a 5k run, and Memphis finished sixth overall out of 13 teams. Mississippi State finished first and Ole Miss finished second. The Tiger’s highest placed runners were Ann Marie Braese at 17th with a 18:10.14 and Reese McDevitt at 22nd with a 18:30.20.
Braese set a personal best for the 5k while Brooke Doyle, Ava Beary and Cassidy Yaley did as well. Doyle ran a 20:05.69, Beary ran a 20:25.49 and Yaley ran a 21:27.80.
The Tigers next meet will be the Rhodes Invitational at Rhodes College on September 20th.
